PFL will crown its bantamweight champion on Dec. 19 in Lyon, France, when Taylor Lapilus faces off with Mitch McKee for the inaugural 135-pound belt in the main event of the last PFL card before merging with MVP in 2027, the promotion announced Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Lapilus (25-4) won four in a row under the PFL banner after parting ways with the UFC on a two-fight winning streak, topping Jake Hadley in his most recent bout this past May. The 34-year-old French bantamweight was victorious in six of eight bouts over two stints in the UFC.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy whole career has led to this moment,\u201d Lapilus stated in a release. \u201cI\u2019m here to become champion, leave my mark on this sport, and cement my legacy. And when I look back, I want to know I was part of the moment everything changed for French MMA. This is more than a title fight. This is history in the making.\u201d<\/p>\n
McKee (11-0) is a decorated wrestler and undefeated MMA prospect who earned a shot at the PFL gold after beating former Bellator titleholder Sergio Pettis via decision in April, his first appearance under the company\u2019s banner after a successful 8-0 run in LFA.<\/p>\n
\u201cFighting for a PFL world title is exactly why I came here,\u201d McKee said. \u201cTaylor is a great fighter, he\u2019s experienced, and I know fighting him in France means I\u2019m walking into his backyard. I wouldn\u2019t want it any other way. I\u2019ve believed from day one that I\u2019m the best bantamweight in the PFL, and in December I get the opportunity to prove it. I\u2019m going to Lyon to bring that belt home.\u201d<\/p>\n
The final four PFL shows before the transition under the MVP name are scheduled for Oct. 16 in Chicago, followed by a pair of November events before the last trip to Lyon.<\/p>\n
\u201cLyon has become one of the great fight cities in the world, and the energy French fans bring for their athletes is palpable,\u201d MVP CEO John Martin stated in a release. \u201cOn December 19, fans will have the opportunity to see one of their own fight for a world championship as Taylor Lapilus takes on the biggest test of his career in the undefeated Mitch McKee. \u2026 The night will also mark a major milestone for our company as the final event under the PFL banner before we move forward as MVP in 2027. I can\u2019t think of a better city or a better stage for it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PFL will crown its bantamweight champion on Dec. 19 in Lyon, France, when Taylor Lapilus faces off with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":886371,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,1347,785,270175,324901,5963,7613,85],"class_list":["post-886370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fighting","tag-latest-news","tag-mma","tag-mvp-mma","tag-mvp-mma-news","tag-pfl","tag-pfl-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=886370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886370\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/886371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=886370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=886370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=886370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}